No single parcel delivery drone can do it all. If it flies, its effectiveness is limited by payload capacity. If it rolls or walks, it is limited by restricted pathfinding capabilities given its low vantage point. So why not combine the best of both worlds by creating a Cooperative Robotic System (CRS) that pairs up land- and air-based delivery drones to better map and navigate the challenging urban and suburban environments they operate in?

Well, that is exactly what researchers at ETH Zurich’s Autonomous Systems Labs have done. They have partnered their walking robot with a sidekick UAV that is capable of scouting the terrain ahead. Collating the data from its hexacopter buddy and combining it with its embedded laser rangefinder allows the walking robot (with a theoretically bigger payload capacity) to overcome its limited ground vantage point of view and thus better calculate an optimized route to its destination over unknown terrain.

How does it work?

Summarized in one sentence, “prior knowledge from the initial exploration [of the flying UAV] enables the walking robot to localize itself against the global map, and plan a global path to the goal by interpreting the elevation map in terms of traversability” (Source: Geeky-Gadgets.com).

Going into more detail, the scout UAV uses a camera to generate a high-resolution elevation map which includes landmarks in the “mission” area.

Sounds cute, but how would the drone duo concept apply to parcel delivery drones?

Well, glad you asked. Picture using a larger drone with higher payload capacity and thus able to carry heavier pathfinding equipment such as LIDAR. Partner it up with land delivery drones from the Transwheel Concept or even Boston Dynamics’ Big Dog (a rough terrain walking robot with a 154 kg (430 lb) max payload capacity) and bam! you got a whole new way to deliver bigger packages to eager eCommerce shoppers.